


when you're not around

by cosmic_creeper (MissusMonster)



Series: effect & cause [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: AU from the end of s2, Silblings, and cliche, probably lame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 04:02:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8188862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissusMonster/pseuds/cosmic_creeper
Summary: Mandy visits Mickey and brings news about the Gallaghers.





	

**Author's Note:**

> probably lame. sorry, but with the state of canon atm, it was either write something or give up on this fandom entirely.

            When Mandy came to see him in juvie after the clusterfuck with Frank Gallagher, she had the same look on her face that she carried around for weeks after that time Terry accidentally shot her puppy. It was one of the few moments that Mickey can remember where Terry might have maybe looked like he felt guilty before making Mickey scrape blood and brains off the wall while he told Mandy to _quit fuckin’ crying already._

 

            As soon as the hard plastic of the phone was pressed to his ear, Mandy said, “The Gallagher’s moved to Michigan,” and Mickey felt a little like his chair had been pulled out from under him. That same swooping feeling as a sudden fall, the half-pain, half-embarrassed _fuck_ as his ass hit the ground. For a wild moment Mickey looked around to make sure that he actually hadn’t fallen, but then Mandy was looking at him, waiting for _something._

And fuck, what was he supposed to say? Before everything went to shit, he and Gallagher spent a lot of time together- best friends, as far as anyone else knew. They worked together, practiced Gallagher’s dumb ass JROTC shit, getting high and shooting shit under the el; for a while, where one was, the other wasn’t usually too far behind. They were the only ones that really knew the truth; Gallagher was Mandy’s best friend, but to Mickey he was-

 

            _Nothing but a warm mouth._

            A pang of guilt works its way up from deep in his gut as Mickey realizes that those are probably the last word’s he’ll ever get to say to Gallagher and fuck, Mandy’s still watching him.

 

            “Yeah, and?” he manages to bite out and Mandy’s eyes roll so far back in her skull it looks like she’s dying.

 

            “You’re such an asshole. I _know_ Ian was your friend.”

 

            “What I worked with him, now we’re best buddies?” Every word tastes bitter, like the lies that they are.

 

            “Don’t try to bullshit me,” Mandy scoffs. “It never works.”

 

            “Yeah, fine, whatever. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna be crying into my pillow about it.” And it’s true. Mickey feels… _something_ , he’s sure there’s a word for it, he just doesn’t fucking know what it is, but it’s not like he’s going to break down like the douchebags in those stupid movies Mandy watched sometimes. All that can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t think bullshit didn’t apply here. Gallagher was a good friend and an even better fuck buddy and fuck it, sure, Mickey would miss having him around, but it wasn’t the end of his world. Maybe whatever they’d had going had been edging into something else, the possibility had been slowly stepping out of the dark shadow’s Mickey had always forced them into, but that was clearly over now.

 

            “It just sucks.” Mandy leans an elbow on the grimy little table, tugging on a bright green chunk of hair. “Ian’s gone, you’re in here. I’m stuck hanging around Iggy and Colin and all they want to do is watch daytime T.V. and jack off. Mostly at the same time.”

 

            “Where’s dad?” he can’t help but ask, and Mandy drops her eyes to the metal coil connecting the phones.

 

            “Back in the can, few weeks after you. The house is falling apart without you there to run shit,” she said, and Mickey had noticed the leaner set to her face, the stress settling in her chin and between her eyebrows. First Gallagher left her and now Iggy and Colin were in charge of the house- everything really was going to shit.  

 

            Mickey bit his bottom lip and leaned forward. “Listen, I got some cash stashed under the loose floorboard behind my dresser, and go shake Sanchez down at school, he’s into me for a couple hundred. It’s not a lot and don’t let those fuckheads know about it, but buy some food, keep the lights on, whatever. I know you won’t blow it on stupid shit.”

 

            For a split second the relief is so obvious on her face that Mickey has to look away. “Just don’t fuck up in here,” Mandy mumbles before clearing her throat, shaking off all the awkwardness of feelings and shit. “Few more months, right? Any longer and those idiots might burn the place to the ground.”

 

            Iggy and Colin weren’t bad guys really, for all the shit they caught, but Mickey could have probably counted the brain cells between them on one hand. They lapsed into silence for a moment, and then, like it tended to do, Mickey’s mouth worked without his permission.

 

            “Why the fuck did they move to Michigan?” His ears heated up a little at the way Mandy grinned at him, and Mickey just shrugged his shoulders as if to say _answer or don’t._

 

            “That rich fuck boyfriend of Fiona’s wanted to go back to college, some stupid shit like that,” she said, rolling her eyes again. “Fiona went with him, and she dragged everyone else too. Lip and Ian were both pissed, but blood sticks with blood or whatever. Left Frank behind, though.”

 

            Mickey felt his hackles rise at the mention of Frank. The only other person that knew his and Gallagher’s secret. He didn’t believe for a second that Frank had actually forgotten what he’d seen that afternoon at the Kash & Grab, but there was fuck all he could do about it in here. With his old man locked up, the chances of the neighborhood drunk letting something slip were slim to none, but it still made Mickey twitchy.

 

            “He’s bitching to the whole neighborhood that his family abandoned him in his ‘time of need’, whatever the hell that means. It’s actually kind of sad, he seems even more pathetic than usual.”

 

            “Fuck Frank,” Mickey ground out, ignoring Mandy’s surprise at his sudden irritation. “Asshole will have that house filled with every freeloader and wino in Canaryville in a month, he doesn’t give a fuck.”

 

            She leans forward and opens her mouth to say something, he’s not sure he really wants to know what going by the look on her face, but the guard standing by the door yells times up before she can.

 

            Giving him a half smile, Mandy says, “Stay out of trouble, assface. See you soon.”

 

            “Whatever, bitch,” he grunts back, making a conscious effort to not smile back. Mandy taps twice on the glass with her fingertips, and it reminds him so much of the last time he was in this shithole and _take your hand off the glass_ that he drops the phone back into the cradle and shoves away from the table, following the guard out without a glance back.

**Author's Note:**

> first in a badly written series about Mickey's life not revolving around Ian. Featuring Mandy, Karen Jackson (soon), and eventually that one redheaded glgr guy.


End file.
